


I Will Always Find You

by meepmorpperaltiago



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV), Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Once Upon A Time AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-10-23 14:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17685647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meepmorpperaltiago/pseuds/meepmorpperaltiago
Summary: A fairytale world frozen in time. A mysterious curse. And a young woman who will save them all.aka a Brooklyn Nine Nine Once Upon A Time AU.





	1. The Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I don’t know how many chapters this will have yet, but I’m really excited about the concept. Hope you like this first chapter, which is more of a prologue/teaser than anything else.

The sun shone on the day that it happened. Even as their worlds cracked and broke, there was light outside. And then everything they knew was gone. 

Jake and Amy’s feet thud on the floor below them, their limbs ache, they don’t know where they’re running to. All they know is that they have to get their baby to safety. 

She’s so young, but she has such a heavy burden on her shoulders. This is all insane. But it’s real. 

They didn’t believe it at first, thought it to be the ramblings of a madman. But then they saw purple smoke on the horizon, appearing in the way that he said it would. 

They all come together, hold onto their loved ones before everything is taken from them. It gets closer and closer, until…

———————————————————————————————————–

Amy wakes up with a thud, her head hitting the wooden beam in her small bedroom. She hears a rumbling past her window. Carriage wheels. It must be Prince Jacob, traveling through the kingdom. With his fiancée. The pangs of pain she felt at the proclamation, at the official engagement of someone she’s never even met, has only seen on his regular route past her cottage, were strange then and they seem strange now. But she brushes it off, gets up and gets on with her day. 

Meanwhile, in the same carriage that Amy had watched, the young Prince she felt a strange connection to is bored out of his mind, stuck, forced to try and make conversation with someone who he barely knows, but who he’d been tied down to since birth. 

He’s unaware of how his closest friend is terrified of the nights she doesn’t remember, of the flashes of violence she remembers only in her dreams. She’ll find comfort and salvation with someone unknown to them all, but who meant so much to all of them in a previous life. 

Meanwhile, a banished King is entering the castle that has always been Jacob’s home, to take shelter from an uprising that took everything he had. 

And a Knight who is practically a father to the young Prince prepares to defend the kingdom, whilst another one of his closest friends feels a sense of loss he doesn’t understand. 

Amongst all this, they get a strange sense that this has all happened before, that they’re reliving the same moments, re-treading the same paths, again and again. And so it goes on. 

———————————————————————————————————–

Back in a world they don’t remember, there’s a knock at the door of the Brooklyn apartment where Jake and Amy were supposed to have their happy ending. A young boy is at the door. 

“Can I help you?”, the apartment’s current occupant asks as she opens the door. 

“Are you Olivia Swan?” he asks. 

“Yeah, who are you?” she responds. 

“My name’s Arthur. I’m your son. There’s a lot you need to catch up on.”


	2. A Strange New World

“I don’t have a son” is her curt response. 

“Sure you do”, the child replies cheerfully, strolling past her and into the apartment. 

“10 years ago, you gave up a baby for adoption, right?” 

Realisation dawns on her then. She looks into his eyes, really looks and knows exactly who he is. 

“What do you want, kid?”, she asks, following him.

“I want you to take me home”

It wasn’t the response that Olivia was expecting, but it’s one that she’s pleased with. She can just take him straight back to his adoptive parents, whoever they are. No  
messy attachments involved. 

“Where do you live?” she asks, moving towards the door. 

“Storybrooke”. 

“Storybrooke?”, she replies, hands moving to her hips and an air of disbelief in her voice at the quite frankly ridiculous name. 

“Yep”, he responds with a nod and with no hint of irony. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you how to get there.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Arthur had told Olivia that he would show her the way to his home, she hadn’t expected to end up trudging through a muddy forest. 

“So… is your house beyond these woods or…”

“Nope, it’s in the woods – look, I’ll show you – it’s just a little bit further…” he says, going through the trees like he knows them inside out. 

“You live in the woods? What, like a little fairy tale character?”

“You have no idea”

Suddenly, Olivia feels a slight buzz in the ground beneath her. Before she knows what’s happening, there’s a larger jolt and then there’s a tiny cottage in front of her, with a footpath stretching across it that certainly wasn’t there before. When she looks down, she’s in a simple gown, like something out of a storybook. 

“Where are we – what’s all this – is this where your parents live?” she asks. 

“Well, she acts more like a big sister really, but she’s taken care of me for as long as I can remember”, he responds, as a woman with dark hair and deep brown eyes walks out of the cottage. 

“Where have you been?”, she asks, rushing out to greet the young boy and not paying any attention to Olivia. 

From the moment Olivia sees the woman, she feels… something. Like a thread that’s somehow pulling them together. She brushes it off and simply watches, whilst trying to make sense of the madness around her. 

“Hey, Arthur, would you mind if we talk for a minute?”, Olivia says in a dazed voice, gesturing towards some random corner. 

“Yeah, sure”, he says, walking with her. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Would you mind explaining to me what the hell is going on?”, she whispers as soon as Arthurs adoptive…caretaker is out of earshot. 

“See, this is why I wanted to bring you here, to prove that everything I’m going to tell you is real, so you can break the curse”, he whispers, with a slight smile. 

“What… what curse? What are you talking about?” 

His grin grows bigger now. “Everyone here, they’re all fairy tale characters now, but they were all ordinary people like you once. Until they were cursed and forgot who they were. Now, they’re frozen in time and are stuck here and are being kept apart from everyone and everything they love. And here’s the best part. You’re the one who’s supposed to break the curse and set everybody free!” he says, jumping up and spreading his arms excitedly, as if revealing some kind of gift.  
Olivia’s head spins. 

“Ok, this is officially too much for me”, she says, stumbling away from Arthur’s crestfallen look and going back in the direction that she came in. But then she looks back. 

She sees her son and she sees the woman that she’s strangely drawn to. No matter what kind of crazy dream this is, for now she wants to see where it’s going. 

The woman smiles warmly at her. 

“Come on in for a while”, she says. “I’ve got to repay you somehow for bringing Arthur home!”

“Sure” Olivia replies, walking with her. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“I’m Amy. Amy Santiago”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later, as Amy walks through the forest, she stumbles. As she looks up, she sees him. He’s there in front of her, for the first time ever her eyes meet his and she feels a painful pang in deep in the pit of her stomach, which she doesn’t quite know the cause of. He offers a hand to help her up. She gratefully takes it, looking away when he tries to check whether she’s ok, for fear of what she might find if she looks at him again. Still, he introduces himself. 

“I’m Jacob – what’s your name?”, he asks, clearly trying to understand something about her, although she can’t quite figure out what.

“Amy”, she responds bashfully. 

“Amy. I know this probably sounds weird considering we just met, but I really hope I can see you again.”, he says with a warm tone.

“Me too” Amy responds quickly, her actions not matching her words as she rushes back to her cottage, back to Arthur and her new guest, back to her familiar world.


	3. Fear, Loss and Friendship

There’s a stirring in the ground. Something shifts. Their salvation draws near. Time moves again.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trees. Grit. Wind. It’s all a rush, a terrifying blur, as she runs at an impossible speed. She doesn’t understand it. She can’t control it. She can hear voices – there are men running after her. At least this time she’s only running, not hunting. They’re coming for her, getting closer and closer…

Regina wakes up with a start in her castle bedroom. She sees her ripped curtains and smashed windows. She trembles. As she hears someone coming, she rushes to cover the mess that she’s trying to understand. Her heart lightens a little when she sees that it’s Jacob. As she’s his father’s ward, they’ve grown up together and are really more siblings than friends. 

“Hey Gina!”, he says as he strolls in, using an affectionate nickname that would probably sound strange coming from anyone else. He’s babbling. She asks why. 

“Ugh, I’m having tea with Eliza today. It’s a private meeting.” He adds air quotes. 

“It’s going to be so awkward – what do I even say to her? We have nothing in common”, he responds, his wild hand gestures an indication of his current levels of stress. 

“Well, you’re stuck with her either way, so you might as well try to make the best of it.” She says distractedly, picking at her nails before patting him on the shoulder. 

He shrugs and then sincerely asks her, “How are you doing?” 

“Ugh, same as usual, more horrifying nightmares” she says nonchalantly. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks tentatively. 

“Not particularly” she says, her voice shrinking as she backs away from him. 

“Ok, well, I’m here if you want to talk”, he says calmly. In spite of all her confusion, it calms her. She gets dressed, goes out of her room and like every morning, tries to forget everything she saw in her dreams. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Jacob walks out of Gina’s room and into the corridor, he sees her. The shy, impossibly beautiful girl he’s felt drawn towards ever since his carriage started to go past her cottage. 

“I…uh…. I didn’t know you worked here??”, he says quietly, putting his hand to his hair. 

“I actually just started”, she responds, looking down at the ground. 

“Well…it’ll be nice to have you around… I guess”

He walks away and tries to ignore the way his heart swells when he looks back at her. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Amy asked Olivia if she wanted to join her in her new job working at the castle, images of scrubbing floors and being barked at by noblemen came to mind. But through some chance encounters, she’s found herself in the far more exciting endeavour of helping out the knights, watching them train while she holds their equipment. The knight in particular that’s she’s assisting is named Terrence and she takes the opportunity to ask him more about the crazy world that her subconscious seems to have constructed. She’d been so dazed upon her initial arrival that she’d forgotten to ask Amy anything. 

“So, say hypothetically, if someone were totally new to this entire… area…. could you possibly explain to that person who the royal family here are?” she asks nervously.  
He gives her a knowing look and explains each member of the royal family – when he mentions Prince Jacob’s engagement, she thinks of Amy, thinks of her slightly sad expression at the carriage that rumbled past the window of the cottage whilst they were having dinner and makes the connections in her head. Then he starts to tell her more about some of the servants and she becomes curious about the person that she’s speaking to.   
“And what about you? What’s your story?”, she asks. Something sad passes over his face, but then he toughens up again.   
“Oh, I don’t really have one. I don’t have a family, I don’t really have many friends. I just do my job, y’know, defending the kingdom”, he responds, swiping his sword as he speaks.   
“Hey, don’t say you don’t have friends – you have me now!” she responds cheerily.   
“Yeah, I guess I do”, he says with a friendly smile. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Charles sweeps floors, just in sight of the kitchen that he longs to cook in, he thinks of the hole in his heart. He doesn’t understand it – never really has – he just feels like something – or someone is missing from his life. But with no friends to speak to about it and no family to go home to, he just goes on with his job, cleaning all day. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, a defeated King makes his way to the door. He’s lost everything he had, everything has been taken from him by Queen Madeline. The kingdom he had fought for so long to build, gone to pieces. With his husband by his side, he seeks refuge in the nearest place he can find.


	4. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of subplots that start up properly in this chapter, so it was exciting to write! Hope you enjoy it.

In the tearoom of a luxurious castle, a Prince and a future Princess sit in silence. 

All Jake can hear is the tick of the clock on the wall. His leg jiggles, he wants to run, to jump away, to get out of this situation. His mind races at a mile a minute, as it often does when he’s stressed or bored. He looks over at the woman he’s supposed to be spending a lifetime with, the person he is destined for. And yet he feels… nothing. No, it’s more than nothing. There’s an irritation in the situation, a wrongness that he just can’t place. 

“So..”

“So..” she responds back, clearly feeling just as awkward as him. They make small talk and eventually they laugh a little and in the end it’s not so bad. He starts to think that maybe he might be able to spend his life with her without wanting to throw himself off his horse. But there’s still that feeling, in the back of his mind, that something in the situation isn’t quite right. 

As he gets up, says goodbye to Eliza and goes back into a hallway of the castle, when he sees her again, when they shyly greet each other the way they have for weeks now, a feeling of fullness settles within him. He starts to think he knows exactly what’s wrong.   
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the first day that Olivia toured the castle, she noticed the solitary figure sweeping the floor outside. When he looked up there was a pain, a loneliness in his eyes, that touched something inside her, digging deep and pulling out painful strands from her own past. She decided then and there to try and speak to him as soon as she could, to see what was behind the look that she knew all too well. She thought that talking to someone in a potentially similar situation could help both of them to heal a little (plus, in any situation she’s very curious to solve any puzzle set in front of her – it’s just the way that she’s always been). 

And now she has an opportunity. On a break from her work with the knights, she immediately heads over to the kitchen and offers to help the person she’s mentally nicknamed ‘lonely man’. Turns out, his name is Charles.

“Hey, can I help you with that?”, she says cheerfully. 

“Oh yeah, sure”, he says, clearly only just noticing her. 

She helps him with cleaning and eventually builds up enough convo-grease (one of her favourite expressions), to dig a little deeper. 

“So, do you have any friends… or…. family… or”

“No”, he responds sadly. He pauses. Then he thinks of something and continues. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly happy on my own, just sweeping these floors…” his awkward laughter says otherwise. 

“But sometimes I just get a feeling like there’s something missing from my life, y’know?” 

“Well, I get that”, she responds, looking down at the floor, her expression darkening before the eyes of the man she’s speaking to. Suddenly, she’s the one opening up to him. 

“I was found abandoned on the stre- in the woods. Growing up in fost – in an orphanage was…rough, and in the hardest times, all I wanted was my mom and dad to tell me that everything was ok. But then I would remember that even they didn’t want me” 

“You don’t know that”, he responds sympathetically, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

“Leaving you might’ve been the most painful thing they ever went through – and maybe someday you’ll find them again! You never know, they could be right nearby”

“Maybe”, she responds with a shrug. She shuts herself off, like she always does when it all gets too much and continues to help polish the kitchen floor.   
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Amy and Olivia get home that night, Arthur whisks Olivia away into a corner. 

“So, how many people have you gotten to know so far? How much do you know about Jake and Amy?”

Olivia interrupts him there, trying to make sense of all the information flying at her. 

“Wait, do you mean Prince Jacob?”

“Well, yeah, that’s his name here…”

“Wait, what do you mean here?”, she says, cutting him off again.

Arthur rolls his eyes.

“Do you not remember? Everyone here is a real person and you’re supposed to free them all”, he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Oh, yeah, right”

“Well, I didn’t quite explain everything. For the curse to break, there needs to be a true love’s kiss – and you need to believe in the curse, but it’s clear that you already do, so we don’t need to worry about that. Anyway, they’re our best chance and there’s a good reason for it. It’s because you can bring them together.”

“How?” Olivia asks. “And how do you know all this? And also isn’t Prince Jacob engaged to Elizabeth?”

“I met somebody who showed me everything – it’s Eliza and it doesn’t matter, because Jake and Amy are soulmates - and you can bring them together because you're their daughter”

“Yeah, that last one checks out”, Olivia says darkly.

“What do you mean?”, Arthur asks, confusion in his voice. 

“Well, you know how dreams can be – the darkest parts of your subconscious always get in. It figures that my mommy and daddy issues would make it into this one.”

“Wait – you think this is all a dream?”, Arthur asks. 

“Well, yeah, it’s pretty clearly a dream…”, Olivia says as if stating the most obvious fact in the world. 

“You don’t think I’m real? Or Amy?”

“No, that- that’s not what I meant-“

“But if you don’t believe that this is real, the curse can’t break – you’re ruining everything!”

Before she can even respond, Arthur is already running off to hide from both her and Amy, before they see his tears.   
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first time in a long time, Raymond feels a wave of defeat wash over him as he walks the hallway of the castle with Kevin, to their new suite, kindly granted to them by the king. This is it. Their new reality. Living on the pity of another monarch, because of the menace of another. There’s a familiarity to the situation that he can’t quite place, but he doesn’t think about it too much as they reach their new living space.   
The Queen of the nearby kingdom had always been a rival to him, but he’d never considered her much of a threat. Until one day when she brought her armies in and headed straight for their castle. To protect his people from their worst violence, he had admitted defeat and left. Forced to abandon the kingdom he had fought so hard to build. And now he was here. Kevin takes his hand and he’s glad that he has such a wonderful husband by his side. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s midnight. And the wolf within Regina is waking up. She can feel it ripping out of her, can feel her very soul shaking.   
She wakes up and she feels dirt beneath her. She feels a chill. She opens her eyes and sees a trail of blood near her. She sees the forest. And then she sees her.   
A beautiful woman, with dark curly hair, looking down at her. She takes her hand and they head off further into the forest together.


	5. Forgiveness and Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one took a bit longer to work out, but I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to @dancingwiththewind on Tumblr for helping me with the beginning!

Somewhere, deep in the forest of that place that’s trapped them all, two outcasts come together. 

Once, Regina’s life was ruled by fear. But then she found Rosa.  
Now, when she wakes up and feels the grit of soil underneath her skin the way she used to only in her nightmares, when she sees Rosa next to her every morning, something she never thought she could feel lightens in her chest. She thinks of the small, scared and scarred creature she once was, the person who Rosa scooped up and took home and she can’t believe how far they’ve come together.  
Rosa learns of Gina’s fearful existence, her terror at the transformations she never understood. Eventually she learns that Rosa was driven out of her village for the magic she was born with. Their pasts don’t matter now. They have each other.  
Sometimes she thinks of those she left behind. She thinks of her old home and there’s an ache deep inside her. But then the fear she felt when she ran grips her once again. And so she stays away, stays with the only person who has ever made her feel safe.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, Olivia has to talk to Arthur about what happened. 

“Look, kid, I didn’t really mean what I said.”, she says shyly, with a slight sigh to her voice.

“I don’t understand any of this crazy stuff. And I care about you. So I’ll support you – in whatever you need me to do.” Although she won't admit it, there’s also a part of her that loves the idea that her parents are soulmates and that she can help bring them together, even if she still thinks that this entire world is a fantasy. 

She can see the disappointment in Arthur’s eyes when he realises that she still doesn’t quite believe him. But for now, her words are enough. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whilst two of the cottage’s occupants sat in silence, a third sat in confusion, wondering what happened to make their newly happy home turn so cold. 

When Amy tried to ask Olivia and Arthur what was wrong, they went a strange, pale shade and become quiet. Eventually, she learned not to bring it up, just as she’s learned to ignore the feeling she’s had for as long as she can remember that something’s not quite right. 

But then she saw the two of them talking in shadow, saw that peace has been made and she decided that it was best not to reopen old wounds by questioning what the argument had been about. 

Strangely, since they made up she’s also noticed Olivia asking increasing questions about her and the Prince, talking about them as if it could even be a remote possibility. It makes her feel uncomfortable, although she won’t admit why. 

After about a week, she snaps. 

“Look, I don’t know why you think there’s something between me and Prince Jacob. There can’t be anything.” She looks away then, her anger washing away, pain flowing in from some distant place that she doesn’t quite understand. 

Olivia softens, taking her hand. 

“I know that nothing can happen. But if you’re not honest about your feelings, you’ll only regret it later.”

She thinks of Olivia’s words later, when they’re standing in the ballroom together, as she finishes up cleaning the floor and he prepares for the ball to celebrate his engagement. It gives her the courage to say what she says next. “I’m not the best dancer, but could help you practise if you want”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was reluctant to accept her invitation to dance at first, worried of the feelings it could drag up. As she steps on his toes and they both giggle, he finally understands the connection he’s felt to her since the first time they saw each other. He sees an entire future that he could have, right in front of him. He sees the love that could’ve been theirs, in another world, in another lifetime and it splits his heart in two. 

Then they hear footsteps. Then they’re seen dancing together. Then, the whispers start. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Raymond’s assessment, he and Kevin settle into their new lives well. The castle is comfortable, they’re together and safe. He suppresses the sense of loss he’s felt since the castle fell and he’s perfectly fine. Unfortunately, Kevin doesn’t agree. 

“Why won’t you go back and fight for what’s yours?”, he asks again and again, the frustration in his voice growing. 

Cracks grow between them over time, as Raymond refuses to admit what they both know to be true. 

Eventually, Kevin ventures out on his own to take back what Raymond won’t. But as he reaches the edge of the forest, he’s jerked backwards. There’s a sudden flash and everything goes black.


	6. Inner strength and revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to start heating up from this point onwards, so I'm super excited to write the second half of this fic! Thanks so much to @alys07 for your help with figuring out this chapter!

As guests begin to flood the palace, as floors are polished and flowers are brought in and food is stocked up, a lone figure quietly wanders out of the doors. In an old life so far away, locked up in her brain somewhere, she was powerful. Strong. Loved.  
Now, the whispers surrounding Amy are crushing. No one knows where they came from, but soon they’ve circled around the tiny forest and all of it’s unknowing prisoners know her by reputation only. As the dirty peasant, a slut corrupting the royal family. She can’t escape. But she can leave the place where it all started. 

 

As one love story comes dangerously close to ending, another one has just begun. Gina and Rosa live happy, simple lives, foraging for all the food they need and spending all their time wrapped up in each other. But as time goes on, Gina can’t help but think of the world outside of their precious bubble. Of her oldest friend, whose wedding she’s going to miss if she never returns. She fears Rosa’s response when she suggests going back, just for a visit, just for a quick dip back into her old life. She knows that it could be dangerous, but she’s surprised when Rosa agrees. Gina can’t help but feel apprehensive as they slowly walk back to the castle, remembering the fear and pain that caused her to flee in the first place. But somehow, with Rosa’s hand in hers, she feels a quiet strength and knows that they’ll be alright. 

 

In spite of the gloom of her life, including her recent struggles, Amy has always come across as a ray of sunshine to Olivia and – which is why it’s a surprise when she comes into the cottage and bursts into tears, crumpling near the door. 

She rushes to the woman’s side and there’s a warm familiarity in the comforting touch shared between them. Ignoring and suppressing the feeling she doesn’t understand, she moves her thoughts to one question. 

“What the hell happened?”

As Amy tearfully explains that she’s left the castle in shame at everything that was beginning to surround her, surprise and anger set into Olivia’s heart. Meanwhile Arthur watches from a corner, drinking in a moment that only he truly understands. 

“Come on Amy, you’re so much stronger than all of this”, Olivia eventually says, grabbing her friend by the shoulders. Growing up, the rare amount of love she knew was the tough kind and so that’s what she dishes out to other people for the most part. This situation is no different. 

“You’re not from here, you just don’t understand”, Amy says in a faint whisper, not looking back as she walks away. 

“Wherever you come from, it’s different”

“I understand you. I understand that in spite of everything you’ve faced, you’ve never let it weigh you down. What I don’t understand is why you won’t fight now”

“I can’t”, Amy responds, a new anger snapping into her voice. 

“Yes, you can! And I know that because somehow I know you! And not just in a “let’s be bffs forever” kind of way. 

She hesitates before continuing. 

"Somehow, from the moment we met, I’ve felt this… connection to you and I don’t know what the hell it is, but it’s enough to let me know that you’re better than this!” 

Amy turns around and Olivia sees in her eyes that she feels this strange but oh-so-strong bond too. 

“Ok”, she says, a smile growing on her face. 

“I’ll go back. I’ll fight.”, she says. There’s the Amy that Olivia knows and loves. 

 

Kevin wakes up in a daze, feeling a spark of something familiar that he now doesn’t understand. He thinks back and remembers running, going back to save his and Raymond’s old life. Why couldn’t he leave? 

He runs back to the castle – he fears Raymond will think him insane when he explains. 

But then reprimands himself when he sees the understanding in his husband’s eyes. They both plough through their minds, to remember their life beyond this strange new border, but a cloudiness has been revealed in both their memories, like pins and needles slowly creeping into every surface. Dawn breaks by the time they reach a conclusion as to what this could all mean: they don’t know what came before, but somehow they now know that all their memories from before their arrival at the castle gates are as real as a wisp of smoke.


	7. The Earthquake

Over the next week, Holt and Kevin try to understand their new, cracked reality. They go back to where Kevin first tried to leave, they walk, tracing the line obsessively. Eventually, they come to a realisation as chilling as their memories being fabricated. Somehow an invisible line imprisons them all. 

In the grandeur of the ballroom, with its circle of sweeping silky skirts and imposing chandeliers, two woman stand in a corner in a shabby homemade dresses.  
Amy looks around, knows she doesn’t belong. But she had to see him. Olivia grabs her arm and somehow it gives her the strength to stay rooted, to show everyone that the rumours don’t bother her, even when all she wants to do is run. 

When she sees the Prince, dancing in the centre of the large ballroom, the odd looks and daggers being shot at her from every corner fade away.  
He smiles at her, but then looks away, a pain coming across his face that she understands all too well. So she just stands and watches. 

As Olivia stands in the ballroom, as she stands by Amy’s side and feels that connection to her, she thinks back to Arthurs words. She sees the man Arthur claims is her father again and feels the same threads, really notices them for the first time.  
For the first time, she believes that this is where she belongs. And she somehow knows, deep within, these people are her parents. 

 

As Gina walks into the ballroom with Rosa by her side, she’s not as scared as she thought she would be. She sees her oldest friend, sees the way his face lights up at her arrival and immediately goes over to greet him, taking Rosa with her. 

 

The warmth that started in Jacob’s heart when he saw Amy enter carries on whilst he catches up with Gina. She doesn’t go into too much detail on wherever she disappeared to and how she met the woman who now stands by her side but judging by her attire (which is earning her many stares), she didn’t exactly have had time to pack. After a while, Eliza comes up to him and he is slashed with guilt as his heart sinks a little. 

But then she takes him into a corner, looks into his eyes with sadness and pity and says words he never thought he would hear. 

“You love her, don’t you?” 

His lack of response gives her an answer. 

“It’s ok”, she says, taking his face in her hands. 

“You should go to her”

Jacob struggles to process what she’s saying at first. He takes a few seconds, thanks her, nods and then runs to the woman he truly loves, has always loved, not quite believing what he’s just been granted. Impulsively, without a thought to the world around them, he goes to her, finally, finally kisses her. It's tender and soft and full of all the longing they've felt for all this time. And then everything changes. 

“Ames”  
“Jake?”


	8. Reunions and Revelations

“If you do this, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you. When you see the purple smoke, you’ll know it’s coming. And the only person with a chance of saving you, will be someone who hasn’t even been born yet. Your daughter. And she’ll be stuck here. While you’ll be there. Forever”

 

It all comes flooding back to them, first in fragments and then in an unstoppable flood. 

It had been such an ordinary morning. There was nothing in the air to indicate that everything was about to change. The words of the madman that Jake and Amy had arrested for selling counterfeit goods so many months before weren’t even in the backs of their minds as they held their tiny baby girl. Olivia Karen Camila Santiago Peralta. 

They’d never even told anyone about the crazy man who had claimed impossible things. That he was from another world, trapped in this one by a curse. That if they imprisoned him, he would imprison them. That his name was Rumpelstiltskin, of all things. The only name on his arrest report was “Mr Gold”.   
When the others began to see purple smoke appear, they thought it was a hallucination. Jake and Amy looked at each other and they knew they had to get Livvy to safety. Whatever suffering they’d brought upon themselves and everyone they loved, they couldn’t entangle her in it. And a selfish part of them knew that if he’d been right about the curse, then in the future she’d be their only chance at freedom. And it turned out that they were right. 

Eventually, whilst everyone else was trapped, Olivia grew to have a child of her own, a child she eventually had to give away. The child was adopted by a cruel couple and ran away, far into the forest, when he was just a toddler. And the path he went down? Eventually, guided him to his grandmother. 

Arthur grew up with the world he was born in only a fragment of a memory. Until one day, when he was playing in the same forest he had been found in all those years ago and he met someone who changed everything. He’d never spoken to the old hag who lived on the opposite side of the forest, had always been too scared to even approach when he’d seen glimpses of her. Now, as she grabbed his arm, saying she could show him “the truth”, he was too scared to even shout out.   
Then, with a flick of her wrist, images began to swirl in front of them. He saw everything. How they’d been trapped, who everyone had been before, how they could be saved. When he asked her why she hadn’t shown this to anyone else, she simply responded: “The curse is too strong. They won’t be able to listen.” 

From then on, everything was different. He could never live comfortably, knowing that everything was wrong. Eventually, he took the leap and returned back to the place that should’ve been his home. And with a knock at the apartment door where the story began, he found his birth mother and their saviour. 

Now, he runs in, feeling a change, knowing that the curse must’ve been broken. He sees his grandparents loving looks, their eyes filled with 30 years-worth of tears.   
He sees Terry, finally running towards Sharon and their children, holding them close. He sees the same happen with Boyle, Genevive and Nickolaj. After all this time, they finally know what has been missing. 

He sees Rosa and Gina looking at each other, knowing that everything has changed now. He sees Kevin and Holt holding each other too. He sees the relief on all their faces, that after all this time, they know who they truly are. They’re free. 

But they’re still in the same place. And then fear fills their hearts as the man who started all of this struts into the room. 

“Hello dearies – you didn’t think you could beat me that easily, did you?”


	9. The Battle

A chill comes into the air. They’ve only just been freed now and they all come together silently, coming close to one another as they look in fear at the man who has trapped them for so long. 

“What’s your game?”, Jake says, a tremor in his voice as he grips onto Amy’s hand. 

“What’s going on here?”

They’re all surprised when Rumple simply lets out a shrill laugh in response.

“Have you really not figured it out yet? I added in a little clause to the curse – I’m tied to it. As long as I’m here, you can’t get out of this. And I’m planning on sticking around for a long time.”, he sneers with a grand gesture towards the ballroom. 

They look to each other in fear – but then Rosa lets go of Gina and steps forward silently. 

“So… as long as you’re alive…. we can’t go home?” 

“You know, for a team of former detectives, you’re a bit of a thick bunch – it’s a good thing I put you in here when I did”

Terry twitches at that. Sharon tries to hold him back, but he lunges for Rumple and is snapped across the room. 

Then, Rosa reacts on instinct, throwing a blast of magic towards him and sending him flying backwards as he’s caught off guard. Two more former beat cops step forward. 

“You know, if you were planning on trapping us using magic, you really shouldn’t have given it to us”, one of them says.   
Rumple lets out a laugh. 

“You really think you can beat me? You don’t know what you’re dealing with”

“Try us”

In response to that, he sends a blast of fire across the room, which one of the beat cops deflects, setting a painting in the corner of the room alight. Everyone else steps back quickly but quietly, backing into a corner to avoid the oncoming storm. 

 

“Babe, this is like something out of Harry Potter – wait – I remember what Harry Potter is!”, Jake says to Amy, delight growing in his voice. 

Amy grins and giggles in response. Olivia watches them in silence, looking away to the happy families now reunited. 

Then, Jake and Amy look towards Olivia and both run forward to embrace her. Finally in her parents warm embrace, Olivia thinks back to the loneliness that had plagued her throughout her life. A glow in her chest starts up at the thought that that might be over. Arthur runs in and Jake and Amy embrace the boy they now know to be their grandson. They’re all too happy to even question him sneaking into the ball. 

Like many the other families around them, the Santiago-Peraltas hold onto each other and turn to watch the ongoing battle. 

 

Jets of colourful magic stream across the ballroom and clash violently as Rosa and the two beat cops battle against the Dark One. 

Finally, the trio start to gain the upper hand, but then he shoots another fireball, knocking one of the beat cops off and causing another blaze a dark corner of the ballroom. 

The remaining two begin to flag. But then they both think of everything that they’ve lost and finding a sudden strength, they both back Rumpelstiltskin into a corner. 

Suddenly, without warning, he turns to ash, purple smoke slowly starts to flood through the room, and then everything goes black.


	10. Coming Home

Olivia is surprised that she remembers the way home. When they all wake up and find themselves on a busy New York street, the brightness and sounds of the modern world are almost overwhelming – she can see that it’s even more so for the others, but to be fair they have spent 30 years trapped in a peaceful forest, with no modern technology. 

They all slowly make their way back to her apartment and she’s surprised when her mother bursts into tears when she sees the front door. Then, when she sees how easily they all make their way around the apartment, the way her parents in particular stare at the parts she remembers changing when she moved in, she understands. 

Eventually, they’ll all laugh at how much fate pulled them back together – but for now, they just look in awe.   
Meanwhile, Arthur cuddles up to her and she feels a warmth in her heart that she couldn’t have imagined just a few months ago. 

 

The others stay close to their families as they navigate Jake and Amy’s old apartment. All of the longing, all of the feelings of emptiness, all of the pain they went through – they finally understand it, they finally remember who they are. They feel afraid, especially as they look around and slowly realise that being thrust 30 years into the future will also take some adjustment. 

There are so many questions. Will they be able to go back to their jobs? How many of their family and friends are still around? What parts of their lives will they be able to salvage? They all sit on the couch together, to work out what the hell they’re going to do now.


	11. The Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I can’t believe that this series is finally done!! It’s been tricky to write and times but it’s been so rewarding and I really hope I’ve written a satisfying conclusion – thank you so much to everyone who has read the story 💜 and thanks so much to @397bartonstreet for going through the epilogue with me!

5 years later 

“Come on Ames, we don’t wanna be late!” 

“Don’t worry, we won’t be”, Amy responds, rubbing smooth circles onto his arms in a calming motion. 

They share a sad look, something crossing over both their faces that only a few people could truly understand.

They often both think of all they lost when they were trapped.

When they returned 30 years after they’d disappeared, family and friends had grown old or were gone. The world had moved on – they’d had to catch up with the era they were living in, they had to rebuild new careers, find new places to live, craft new lives. 

Slowly, in a future world that was so familiar and yet so strange, they all rebuilt their lives, little by little. And now they’ve all gained so much. 

As Jake and Amy quietly savour the moment, a small boy with curly brown hair runs up to them.

“Mamma, daddy, I’m reeeaddyy!” He says proudly. They smile at each other. He really is a Santiago. 

“Are you ready to go see your sister and the others?”, Jake says. The boy nods and together they all walk downstairs, through the bookstore they started together in the months after they came back to Brooklyn. 

These nights together also became a tradition around the same time, as a way for them to come together as a family. 

As they enter Gina and Rosa’s apartment, they’re immediately greeted by those who’ve already arrived, getting a crushing amount of hugs from Rosa, Gina, the Jeffords, Olivia and Arthur, who seems to be getting more grown up every day. The strange thing is, they’ve experienced so much over the years. that having a 14 year old grandson and a 4 year old son doesn’t seem strange to them at all. 

They all settle down on the couch, waiting for the others to arrive. 

Across the night, especially when Holt, Kevin, Genevieve, Nicolaj, Hitchcock and Scully all arrive, they chat and laugh and feel a warmth in each other’s presence that has slowly built up over the years, as they’ve bonded from their experiences. 

It’s also a chance to catch up – they all get to hear about Rosa’s job as a Doctor, Gina’s online empire, Charles’ restaurant, Kevin’s continuing work as a lecturer, Holt’s job as a manager of an swanky hotel. 

 

They all look at each other, smiling as they think of how they’ve grown since they arrived back in Brooklyn exactly five years ago. Castles, forests and magic have slowly faded into their pasts as they’ve headed towards a brighter future together. As a family.


End file.
